OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Penn State senior goaltender Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) is one of 20 student-athletes across the nation who have been named candidates for the 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award as announced on Wednesday morning.
"Oskar truly is the perfect example of a successful student-athlete; he is a great student even with English as his second language, and he is a committed athlete with excellent performance and results," mentioned head coach Guy Gadowsky. "When it comes to the areas of personal character in the community and being a positive teammate for his athletic program, Oskar is of the absolute highest quality, class, and standard of our program values."
From the list of 20 candidates, a national committee will select 10 finalists in February. Those 10 names will then be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. Fan balloting will be coupled with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.
Autio becomes the sixth different Nittany Lion hockey player to be nominated for this prestigious award joining 2015-16 recipient David Glen '16, Luke Juha '16, 2016-17 finalist David Goodwin '17, 2018-19 finalist Chase Berger '19 and 2020-21 finalist Alex Limoges '21.
The Senior CLASS Award is presented annually to an individual who excels on the field, in the community and in the classroom all while having strong leadership qualities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition.
CLASS is an acronym which stands for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School" while the award takes a focus on the total student-athlete and his performances on and off the ice.
Autio is one of 10 Big Ten student-athletes to be recognized as a candidate joining Ohio State's Quinn Preston, Will Riedell and Gustaf Westlund, Notre Dame's Graham Slaggert and Spencer Stastney, Wisconsin's Tarek Baker, Michigan's Nick Blankenburg, Michigan State's Adam Goodsir and Minnesota's Sammy Walker.
Not only is Autio a force between the pipes for the Nittany Lions, but he is an academic weapon compiling a 3.78 cumulative grade point average as an industrial-organizational psychology major with a minor in business.
The senior net-minder is 7-5-0 on the season with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage.
For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Full Senior CLASS Award Release
